Right-wing marchers paraded up and down the Portland waterfront Aug. 4. (Liz Allan)

It was the 15th rally held in Portland in the past year and a half by the Vancouver-based protest group Patriot Prayer. In that time, the group has visited just three other cities outside its home state of Washington: Salem, San Francisco and Berkeley, Calif.

"If I was able to prevent it, I certainly would," said City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly in an Aug. 3 statement denouncing Gibson's rally. "I believe that the principles these groups espouse are intended to foment hatred and violence in our city."

As at previous events, the march was something of a campaign rally for Washington U.S. Senate candidate Joey Gibson, who has parlayed his leadership of Patriot Prayer into a growing profile on the fringes of conservative media.

Despite the injuries to protesters, the mayor defended the tactics of his police officers.

"Numerous individuals were arriving with every intent to inflict great bodily harm," Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement Aug. 6. "The goals of the police during the demonstrations were to keep groups separated and to protect lives, both of which they did."

Gibson's rally—and the brawls that occurred in its wake—nevertheless disrupted what would have otherwise been a beautiful summer weekend in Portland's Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Many Portlanders avoided the area. Local Starbucks franchises didn't bother opening.

A Patriot Prayer protester aims pepper spray at a group of retreating antifascists during a street skirmish. (Liz Allan)

While the mayor and police are justifying their response by claiming they averted the worst-case scenario, the rally does raise a couple of questions: Why Portland? And will it ever stop?

The answer to that is: Unless city authorities try a different approach, it won't stop until Patriot Prayer wants it to stop. And the group has every motivation to continue.

WW spoke to dozens of Patriot Prayer participants throughout the day—who made it clear they saw Portland as hostile territory.

Few of them knew the city well. The protesters WW spoke to had come from as far away as Arkansas, though many more had come from rural and small-town Washington. In fact, this reporter could find less than half a dozen Oregonians in the Trump-supporting group, let alone Portlanders.

That said, Gibson's campaign has been given oxygen by right-wing media outlets. Chief among them is Alex Jones' Infowars, which acted as a de facto publicity arm for Patriot Prayer throughout July.

Jones spent entire segments of his radio and YouTube show demonizing Portland. With Gibson as a guest immediately after the June 30 Patriot Prayer brawl in Portland, Jones accused Portland police of being in league with billionaire George Soros and "standing down to allow antifa violence."

A Patriot Prayer supporter came to the protest dressed as Pepe the Frog, an icon of fringe groups known as the “alt-right.” (Justin Katibak)

He then gave Gibson a platform on his show to do the same.

On Jones' show last week, Gibson said: "Portland is one of the worst cities in this country. It's full of so much darkness. That's why I'm so motivated to go there. If we don't bring all of this hate onto the streets from antifa and communists, well, people won't see it. I'm happy to go down there and stand up for freedom and stand up for God."

Political allegiances at the Aug. 4 protests were conveyed through helmets, including this one worn by California resident John Turano, aka “Based Spartan.” (Liz Allan)

Many who showed up on Gibson's side Saturday were wearing Infowars-branded gear. Others were dressed in outfits that spoke to a desire to antagonize their opposition.

Tusitala "Tiny" Toese, who allegedly assaulted a Portland resident in May, was among those wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan "Pinochet did nothing wrong," a reference to the Chilean dictator who murdered leftist foes. On the back, it showed a cartoon of antifascists being dropped out of a helicopter, an infamous tactic of Pinochet's death squads.

Dozens also wore the black and gold colors of a men's fraternity called the Proud Boys. The Proud Boys, who have been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, have been involved in a number of violent incidents.

The Aug. 4 showing was one of the largest gatherings of Proud Boys in Portland. The men’s fraternity, which wears gold-trimmed polo shirts, has been labeled a hate group by some watchdogs. (Liz Allan)

Members of American Guard, an Indiana-based paramilitary group tied to white supremacists, were filmed brawling. Another man was photographed sporting an SS neck tattoo.

The Patriot Prayer contingent was met by protesters who ignored pleas by city officials to stay home. Rose City Antifa was joined by a "PopMob" protest, supported by a broad range of community groups and progressive organizations.

WW spent much of the day with right-wing protesters Saturday. We watched plentiful brawls occur during and after the main protest, and the evident delight of right-wing demonstrators when police turned on their adversaries.

In the following pages, you'll read comments from protesters on opposite sides of the police line describing what unfolded.

To the members of Patriot Prayer, Saturday looked like victory. And they want to do it again.

A right-wing protester gives the “OK” sign to onlookers. (Liz Allan)

"Success will be when we can march through downtown Portland with a flag and do whatever we want without being assaulted. If you're not of [Portland's] mindset, it's hard to do.

"We're getting some attention. I don't know if the other side is getting the message, but we're definitely getting some attention."

—Josh from Vancouver—no last name given—who has attended several Patriot rallies. Josh arrived for the event wearing a khaki tactical vest and carrying a military surplus combat helmet.

"Our community in Portland and Vancouver has been plagued recently. Minority communities feel like there is no one here to help them. [Patriot Prayer is] looking for a Sunday or Monday headline that says they're victims, which is false, or that it was all about freedom of speech. Well, we've set up a table; this is their opportunity to be heard. If you walk away from this opportunity, clearly you didn't want to speak—you just wanted to be seen."

—Chris Thobaben, a veteran running for the Washington state house as a Democrat in the District 18a primary. Thobaben and others set up a table across the street from the original Patriot Prayer rendezvous point in Vancouver. They offered right-wing protesters an opportunity to debate them before leaving for Portland. There were no takers while WW was there.

"I don't trust mainstream media any more. Infowars have helped me wake up. Before the media used to cover everything up, and now we have the internet. The awakening is happening this year. We can see the evil cabal running our planet now.

"I'm a family man. This is my first rally. I am just so fed up with how things are."

—Zach, from Washington, a newcomer to Patriot Prayer rallies, who would not give his last name. Zach was interviewed at Marine Park in Vancouver wearing an Infowars-branded "Hillary for Prison" T-shirt.

"When I first got into this stuff, I went to some End the Fed protests, but nothing like this really. I saw a video of these guys singing the national anthem, walking down the street and getting attacked for it.

"I'm out here supporting everyone's right to free speech. [The media] are trying to divide us and get us to fight.…Honestly, it's about bringing people together."

—Roth, a Vancouver protester and self-described "working-class guy" who was also attending his first Patriot Prayer rally. Roth also wore an Infowars T-shirt and expressed appreciation for the conspiracy broadcaster.

"Nothing gave rise to it. I saw no provocation. The Portland Police Bureau just wanted to go have their fuckin' lunch. If it's a victory for Patriot Prayer, it's a victory won by the cops. We outnumbered them."

—Olivia Katbi Smith, co-chairwoman of the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, who co-sponsored a counterprotest called Popular Mobilization—or PopMob. The PopMob and antifascist protests were charged by police on Southwest Columbia Street after they followed Patriot Prayer's march south.

"The aggressive policing of counterprotesters who didn't appear to be throwing anything allows people to think that police are acting on behalf of the Proud Boys."

—Eric Ward, executive director of the Western States Center, which co-sponsored the PopMob counterprotest.

People like California resident John Turano, aka “Based Spartan,” live-streamed the events to online fans.

"Today is a big win for America. Today, we have proven to Portland that no matter what kind of threat they send our way, they are not gonna stop us. They are not gonna make us bend the knee. The only way we bend the knee is before the cross.

"Even if your cops stand down and don't do their job, we're still gonna come. Even if we get injured, we're still gonna come. [Today,] the cops did their jobs, and we're proud of them."

—Patriot Prayer organizer Tusitala "Tiny" Toese at the microphone at the conclusion of Patriot Prayer's rally. Toese has been involved in several alleged assaults at rallies, on Portland Streets, and at the Vancouver Westfield Mall.

A few families joined progressive protests, despite weeks of reports about potential violence. (Liz Allen)

"Portland police did what we have been asking them to do for a year and kept the sides separated. You saw the result, you saw which way the police were facing, away from us. Today went really well. Our main objective was for Ted Wheeler to do what he is supposed to do, to get the police to do their jobs.

"Today was success."

—David Machado, longtime Vancouver member of Patriot Prayer who has taken care of organizational details like permits and bus driving in the past. Machado says he was pepper-sprayed by Portland police on June 30.

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3 of 82A Patriot Prayer protester aims pepper spray at a group of retreating antifascists during a street skirmish. (Liz Allan)

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17 of 82The Aug. 4 showing was one of the largest gatherings of Proud Boys in Portland. The men’s fraternity, which wears gold-trimmed polo shirts, has been l